Apparatus for condensing and squeezing a medium

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for separating solids from gaseous or liquid substances which comprises two open-ended cylindrical drums mounted within a casing. The drums are eccentrically arranged one within the other, and the inner drum rotates on a shaft mounted on the casing. In the chamber between the drums is a belt, which is resiliently deformable and has a series of open-ended chambers that are recurrently constricted and expanded, substances being introduced in the expanded state and discharged in the constricted state. The outer drum is rotated by power means and the inner drum is operatively connected to the outer drum to be driven thereby.

United States Patent 1111 3, 3 ,7 4

[72] Inventor Albert Wehner 2,910,185 10/ 1959 Wehner 210/400 X Haus 35, 7881 Wieladingen, Germany 3,000,294 9/1961 Lowe et al. 100/121 [21] Appl. No. 30,802 3,126,819 3/1964 Wehner 100/151 X [22] Filed Apr. 22, 1970 FOREIGN pATENTS [451 Paemed 1972 883,564 7/1953 Germany 418/153 Primary Examiner-Peter Feldman [54] APPARATUS FOR CONDENSING AND SQUEEZING n M l l W, Fraser A MEDIUM 6 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

ABSTRACT: Apparatus for separating solids from gaseous or [52] Cl liquid substances which comprises two open-ended cylindrical [51] Int Cl B30b 9/20 drums mounted within a casing. The drums are eccentrically 1101 F10100i16111""IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII"IIIIIIIIIII 100/110 arrangedonewhhinmeetbwendtheimerdwm101mm 116 118 121 |51 157 2l0/40l 400 388 386 shaft mounted on the casing. 1n the chamber between the 418/156 5 1 drums is a belt, which 1s resiliently deformable and has a series of open-ended chambers that are recurrently constricted and [56] References Cited expanded, substances being introduced in the expanded state UNITED STATES PATENTS and discharged in the constricted state. The outer drum is rotated by power means and the inner drum is operatively 631,701 8/1899 DUBOlS 418/156X t t t th 1 h 1,265,206 5/1918 Jenkins 100/157 Conn ed drum edment a 1 4 a r! 2' a a 1, 1 I r 1 1 1 a 1 1 1 1 L 3 5 5 1 Z 11 1 1 1 2 1 f7 1 I 1 Z .0 15

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SHEET 3 [IF 3 APPARATUS FOR CONDENSING AND SQUEEZING A MEDIUM The invention relates to apparatus for consolidating and/or squeezing a substance contained in hollow spaces which are formed in a compressible belt moving around a closed circuit, the spaces being continuously charged with the substance end, in the course of the forward motion of the belt, being gradually pressed tightly together, by this means effecting the consolidating and squeezing action on the substance located in the said spaces.

The apparatus according to the invention is appropriate for all purposes in which the problem to be dealt with is the conveyance of a primarily gaseous or liquid substance or the separation of a gaseous or more or less liquid substance from solids located therein in suspension.

One method is already known in which, with the latter purpose in view, namely that of removing water from slurries, the slurries with their highwater content are fed to sections of an endless belt which are open on one side and which are formed by resilient transverse partitions of the said belt and by the lateral walls of a casing enclosing the belt. ln the course of the forward motion of the belt this passes through a constantly narrowing zone of the casing, during which the constriction of the transverse partitions, which consist of a porous material, takes place, and thus the squeezing out of water from the slurry suspension is effected. Thereafter, the transverse partitions, having passed the constricted casing, return to their previous condition, and the compartments, restored in this manner, are again charged with the slurry suspension.

This already known filtering method is limited, as regards its possibilities of application, to the special purpose described above and, apart from that, is affected by difi'rculties in sealing of the compartments against the walls of the casing in a way which prevents escape of the solid constituents.

Through this invention, not only are these difficulties in the already known method avoided, but in addition the possibility is created of employing in the most general fashion the principle of compressing a substance located in a hollow space enclosed by resilient walls.

The apparatus according to the invention utilizes an ar rangement whereby an endles thickwalled belt consisting of a resiliently deformable material and preferably running in a horizontal or inclined plane, which belt has successive horizontally enclosed hollow spaces open at top and bottom (for example, of cylindrical formation), and which is so borne in a cylindrical, drumshaped casing (which closes off the hollow spaces of the moving belt by means of its upper and lower facing surfaces) as to find support against the inner wall of the casing, is driven continuously through an annular chamber which is bounded by the drum-shaped casing and an inner drum positioned eccentrically to the casing, both of which rotate in the direction of the belt at the speed of the latter, the annular chamber continuously narrowing from a maximum enlarged position and then growing larger again, so that the contents of the hollow spaces, charged with the substance requiring treatment through an inlet aperture in the casing in the enlarged area of the annular chamber, undergoes continuous compression in passing from the said inlet point to a discharge point located in the narrowest area.

Since the belt is moving in company with the two drums, it is not subject to any frictional stresses in the direction of rotation.

The drums, the exterior of which is conveniently surrounded by a fixed reinforcing casing and along which it runs while being supported by rollers, may be given their own individual drives. Preferably, however, they will be driven in common, that is, one of them being impelled by the other. In this case the coupling together of the drums will be effected, for instance, according to the principle of the crank slot, by means of a pin attached to the inner drum and able to move in a longitudinal slit along the outer drum in such a way that, in spite of the eccentric disposition of the two drums in relation to each other, their annular velocity is made to correspond to a considerable degree. The link between the inner and outer wall can also, however, be effected using the belt itself in a flexibly resilient manner, or using an interposed mechanism.

According to the particular features of the differing applications of the apparatus according to the invention-whether it be as a compressor, a pump, a dehydrating device for solids, an air filter or the likethe devices acting to put the method into effect can be made to match the various applications.

In the case of employing the device as a pump for gaseous or liquid substances, or as a compressor with a tight seal between the belt sliding along the casing walls and the walls themselves, an entrance is provided in the expanded area of the belt and an exit is provided in the most compressed area of the same. A gaseous substance is automatically sucked into the hollow space passing the entrance at the moment in question, due to the suction effect resulting from the expansion of the belt material. A liquid substance is either sucked in or poured in. At the narrowed exit the compressed or pressuretreated substance emerges by way of a nonretum valve.

The sealing action between the top and bottom surfaces of the belt and those of the drum is effected by means of the comparatively large areas of contact of the belt against the facing walls when the belt is not being subjected to compression, is effected in given instances by additional sealing means, and in the narrowed area is effected by the increasingly strong pressure which the top and bottom surfaces of the belt exert on the facing surfaces of the drum with an increasing squeezing action on the cells, the action being additional precisely in those areas in which reliable sealing is required because of the increase in the pressure.

In the event of the employment of the invention for filtering a gaseous or liquid suspension which is supplied to the positions passing the inlet aperture in succession, a fluidtight sealing of the moving cells on the side of the facing wall is not needed and is also not practical, since there is no question of any appreciable pressure being exerted on the suspension. Rather, the arrangement will then be so set up that during the advance of the belt the continuously squeezedout water or, for instance, cleansed air, is able to escape from the cells from the commencement of the constriction onwards. ln given cases the process can be improved or accelerated by the addition of flocculants.

In these cases the solid material remaining in the cellular hollow spaces and now forming a solid body during the reexpansion of the spaces automatically releases itself from the walls of the same and drops out by a lowerv discharge aperture provided for that purpose in front of the location where the new charge is fed in. Naturally the emptying of solid materials from the cells may be further aided by pneumatic or mechanical means.

In order to improve the filtering effect still further, it may be useful to provide an intervening space of several millimeters in depth between the low limit of the hollow spaces or cells and the wall forming a layer of solids in this space shortly after the startingup of the device, this acting as a supplementary filter. Such a filtering layer, which in that event will usefully be composed of kieselguhr, sand or the like, may also be provided in its own right, that is, may be installed ab initio." In both cases there must then naturally be a lateral flange on the wall of the drum corresponding in height to the layer.

In difficult circumstances, the procedure of emptying the solid material at the discharge point may be still further improved by having the suspension requiring dehydrating accommodated in the hollow spaces in porous pouches which, after completion of the extracting process, release themselves from the hollow spaces in a particularly easy manner, and actually drop out after the lower opening has been made available. The pouches which drop out, along with the material contained in them, constitute, when for instance coal slurries are being dealt with, an excellent, neatly packaged fuel.

With the aim of gaining the time required in given circumstances for the charging and emptying of the individual chambers or hollow spaces, the advancing of the belt may be effected in an uninterrupted manner (a genuinely continuous one) and also in a stepby-step manner with the switching forward of one chamber after the other.

The belt substance will preferably consist of a microporous material with open or closed pores according to the application, for consolidation or for a filtering effect.

According to a further form of embodiment of the device according to the invention, and one which especially falls to be considered for the application of the invention in a compressor role, the belt does not consist of a compressible material, but the alternately compressed and then expanded cells are formed between an outer and an inner resilient ring of belting which is fed as such through the enlarged and the narrowed areas of the annular chamber by means of dividing partitions inclined in the direction of rotation of the drum. In this case, too, the resultant effect is a continuous subjecting to pressure and subsequent relieving of the material located in each of the cells, which now extend in the peripheral direction of the belt over a larger extent of the said direction.

The dividing partitions bounding the cells formed between the outer and the inner ring of walling may in the latter case also consist of a cellular material (with closed pores), but in given cases may be formed by metal tongues fastened so as to be fluidtight in a flexible manner along both the inner and the outer drum.

The latter formation renders possible the application of the device even as a compressedgas generator for an internal combustion engine, the combustive mixture being introduced into the cells at the location of the largest expansion, being continuously compressed during the further progress of the belt, and being ignited in the zone of greatest compression, and the emerging gases being used for driving a coaxial turbine wheel, for instance.

Further features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following description of preferred forms of embodiment thereof, given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a first form of embodiment of a machine for carrying out the invention, in side view, part being shown in an axial section;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the drive arrangement;

FIG. 3 is a side view of another form of drive arrangement;

FIGS. 4 to 9 show in radial. section (except for FIG. 5 which is in axial section) various forms of embodiment of a resilient belt.

FIG. 1 shows a section taken through a first form of embodiment of a machine according to the invention. The casing of the machine is designated 1, this casing resting on the stand 2 of the machine. Drums 3 and 4 are carried inside the casing, and between them is located a resilient belt 5 with compartments. H6. 1 shows only one of the numerous possible forms of embodiment of this compartmented belt which, instead of being designed in the manner represented here, may also be formed in other ways in accordance with the basic principle of the invention, according to which advancing compartments on their path pass a spot at which they undergo a constriction process either through concentrically positioned drums or by other mechanical devices, for example, hydraulically or eccentrically actuated pressureexerting jaws, so as to achieve the efiect of pressing or of squeezing out. In the connection even the possibilities shown in FIG. 4 to 9 are by no means exhaustive.

In FIG. 1 the compartmented belt 5 is squeezed as a consequence of the eccentric displacement of the drums in relation to each other, said drums being shown on the righthand side of the Figure in the pressureexerting position, and on the lefthand side of the Figure in the open position, in which the compartments are being filled through a hopper 8.

The drum 3 rotates about the shaft 7 borne in the stand 2 of the machine. The wheel 9 for a V- belt drive which turns the shaft is firmly connected to the base of the said drum.

In this example of embodiment, the motion of the drum 4 is effected by way of the sliding block 11 which meshes with a guidance groove in the drum 3, in the base of the latter, and for its part is connected firmly to the drum through a bolt 12.

The inner wall of the drum 4 is designated 4', and through this the compressed liquid is led to the apertures 13. The penetration of liquid as far as the moving surfaces of the drum is prevented by upper and lower sealing rings 14.

The substance requiring to have water removed, and fed to the compartments through the funnel 8, enters the compartments in that area in which they are of the greatest volume, for example, in FIG. 6, where the compartments are designated 15, and is then guided between the two drums as far as the position close to compartment 16, where the volume of the compartments tends to zero.

At this spot the air or the liquid has already escaped from the substance, and in the latter only the solid material and some residual moisture or residual amount of air still remains.

In the drawings the illustrations of the volumes or spaces available have been drawn in an exaggerated manner for clarification.

In operation, when the drum 3 is caused to rotate by the V- belt wheel 9, the drum 4 is also set in motion by way of the slide block 11 which is borne in the guide means 17 of the drum 4, and the result is the squeezing process on the compartmented belt. The seals 14 and 14' and the correspondingly formed passages 18 and 18', as also 13 and 13', serve to effect the appropriately directed discharge of air and of liquid or gases. The solid material is, in the manner described hereinbefore, at a spot located in front of the recharging position, for example, the compartment 19, carried away to the area in which the complete expansion of the compartment is attained.

In FIG. 2 there is an illustration of one form of embodiment, given by way of example, of the arrangement of the drive 21 of the machine.

FIG. 3 demonstrates a drive carried above the drum arrangement.

Of the example of embodiments shown in FIGS. 4 to 9, FIGS. 4 and 5 show, in a radial and an axial section respectively, a ring of cylindrically formed compartments in a relaxed condition, not yet inserted into the machine.

FIG. 6 shows the formation of the compartments that results during operation when the ring 5 has been inserted under stress into the machine. From this figure it is possible to make out how the compartments undergo deformation from the area 15, in which the input of the substance takes place, up to the area 16 where the maximum amount of constriction occurs, the compartments subsequently expanding until as far as the area 19, where discharge of the compressed substance takes place.

FIG. 7 shows an embodiment of the compartmented belt which is suitable for the case explained above in which there is an additional insertion of filtering media, such as filtering pouches, into the compartments 22, which here are of cylindrical formation.

In this case the walls of the circular compartments can be provided with apertures which render possible a lateral discharge of the compressed liquid or gas, this being for the event that discharge in a downward direction only does not meet with approbation.

The compartments 23 which are situated between the actual circular compartments operate as compensatory chambers in those instances in which variations in the proportion of solids make a corresponding deformation of the circular chambers a necessary feature.

FIG. 9 is a fractional presentation of FIG. 7 on an enlarged scale.

FIG. 8 shows a form of embodiment in which cylindrical bodies are inserted between the drums 3 and 4 to form the resilient circular compartments.

The forms of embodiment described hereinbefore of the devices serving to put the method into effect are by no means exhaustive, and many modifications of these are possible without thereby deviating from the basic concept of the invention, as defined in the appended claims. In particular, the possibility exists, when employing the device as a compressor, in which the alternately squeezed and expanded cells are constituted between an outer and an inner resilient annular belt by means of dividing walls inclined in the direction of rotation of the drum, and this possibility is not illustrated in the present drawings.

The basic'principle of the invention will always be realized when the advancing compartmental volume, as they travel, pass a spot at which the compartmented spaces undergo reduction, either by eccentrically positioned drums or also other mechanical devices, such as hydraulically or eccentrically actuated pressureexerting jaws, and by this means the effect of squeezing out is achieved.

The inner surfaces of the compartments may in given cases be clad with additional filter action fabrics, for example, made of synthetics, just as such fabrics may also be applied as additional sealing means between the upper and the lower facing walls of the drum.

Furthermore, the overall arrangement, instead of being horizontal with a vertical axis of rotation, which is preferred, may be arranged to have a greater or smaller inclination in respect of the horizontal. This form of embodiment may prove of practical use if, for instance, the device is being employed for removing water from suspensions, in which case the zone of the drum inclined downwards will dip into a container containing the suspension, and thus automatic filling of the hollow spaces will be achieved.

What I claim is:

1, Apparatus for separating solids from gaseous or liquid substances comprising a casing provided with side, top and bottom walls, the latter being provided with discharge apertures, inner and outer cylindrical rotatable drums eccentrically arranged one within the other and disposed inside said casing, a belt interposed and fitting the space between said drums and having a plurality of successively arranged open ended resiliently deformable chambers, whereby the space provided between the two drums gradually narrows from an enlarged zone and then grows larger again, a shaft in said casing about which said inner drum rotates, drive means for rotating said outer drum, and an operative connection between said outer and inner drums thereby to drive said inner drum from rotary movement of said outer drum.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said operative connection comprises a coupling according to the principle of the crank slot, having sliding blocks moving in slits that, by way of the slit of the outer drum, a pin on the inner drum is carried along and thus, in spite of the eccentric arrangement of the two drum axes, an approximately similar angular velocity of these drums is obtained.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which chambers of the belt are closed off by walls of the casing except for an upper entrance in the expanded area of the belt and a lower exit in or shortly after the narrowest area of the belt.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterized by additional sealing means surrounding the marginal areas of the openings of the chambers of said belt.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that a filtering layer is interposed between the casing bottom wall and adjacent portion of the inner drum.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said belt comprises resilient outer and inner rings, and resilient tubular cylinders interposed between said rings. 

1. Apparatus for separating solids from gaseous or liquid substances comprising a casing provided with side, top and bottom walls, the latter being provided with discharge apertures, inner and outer cylindrical rotatable drums eccentrically arranged one within the other and disposed inside said casing, a belt interposed and fitting the space between said drums and having a plurality of successively arranged open ended resiliently deformable chambers, whereby the space provided between the two drums gradually narrows from an enlarged zone and then grows larger again, a shaFt in said casing about which said inner drum rotates, drive means for rotating said outer drum, and an operative connection between said outer and inner drums thereby to drive said inner drum from rotary movement of said outer drum.
 2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said operative connection comprises a coupling according to the principle of the crank slot, having sliding blocks moving in slits that, by way of the slit of the outer drum, a pin on the inner drum is carried along and thus, in spite of the eccentric arrangement of the two drum axes, an approximately similar angular velocity of these drums is obtained.
 3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which chambers of the belt are closed off by walls of the casing except for an upper entrance in the expanded area of the belt and a lower exit in of shortly after the narrowest area of the belt.
 4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterized by additional sealing means surrounding the marginal areas of the openings of the chambers of said belt.
 5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that a filtering layer is interposed between the casing bottom wall and adjacent portion of the inner drum.
 6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, in which said belt comprises resilient outer and inner rings, and resilient tubular cylinders interposed between said rings. 